WHEN: Saturday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. CT
WHERE: Madison Square Garden in New York, New York
WATCH: Bally Sports Midwest, Bally Sports app
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES After a disappointing loss in Newark, NJ on Thursday, the Blues will look to get to .500 on their five-game Eastern Conference road trip when they visit the New York Rangers on Saturday.
The Devils came out strong against a Blues team that was playing their third game in four days on the road, and it paid dividends for the hosts. At the 13:24 mark of the first period, Timo Meier scored his first of what would be three in the game off a quick backhand shot while driving the post. It would take less than three minutes for Meier to double the lead for the Devils when he fired a shot from the slot past Binnington.
Meier would score one more to complete the hat trick, but not without Brandon Saad and the Blues scoring their first of the game early in the second. Erik Haula scored an empty net goal to make it 4-1 and the Devils snapped their three-game losing streak.
The Blues turn their attention to the Rangers on Saturday with a crucial two points on the line. The last time these two met on Jan. 11 at Enterprise Center, the Blues won in dominant fashion by a score of 5-2. In that game, three of the five Blues goals were scored on the power-play.
Going into Saturday’s game, the Blues power-play will look to regain momentum after being kept scoreless on Thursday. When asked about the Blues' power-play after Thursday’s game, Robert Thomas, the team's leading scorer, was not hesitant to explain the club has two units that can create chances. “Power-play was good tonight. (We) didn’t get a goal but moved the puck well and had a ton of good chances. You keep doing that and you’re going to find success.”
The Blues go into Saturday’s game with a record of 32-28-3 and 67 points. The Blues currently sit in the first spot out of the Western Conference Wildcard with one game in hand on Nashville.
RANGERS The well-rested New York Rangers welcome the Blues, who are on a five-game road trip against only Eastern Conference teams. The Rangers haven’t played since Monday (a 4-2 loss to the Panthers at Madison Square Garden), while the Blues will be playing their fourth game since then when the two teams go head to head on Saturday night at MSG.
The Rangers have played some of their best hockey at home this season, boasting a record of 21-8-0 at The Garden. After winning seven of their last 10 - and losing two in a row for the first time since late January - NY will be leaning on their point leaders in Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck to right the ship and get back in the win column.
Panarin leads the charge with 85 points (30 goals, 50 assists) through 62 games, while the next closest Blue Shirt on the points leaderboard is Trocheck with 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists). Panarin comes into Saturday’s contest with points in four straight, while Trocheck has points in three straight.
Five of the Rangers remaining 10 games in the month of March will feature a divisional opponent, meaning there will be vital points up for grabs for a team looking to secure home ice for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Rangers sit atop the Metropolitan Division (and third in the Eastern Conference) with a record of 40-18-4, amassing a total 84 points thus far in the season. As of Friday evening, the Rangers are four points ahead of Carolina for first in the division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD Saturday's game will be the second and final meeting of the two teams this season after St. Louis defeated New York by a score of 5-2 in St. Louis on Jan. 11.
